The present invention relates to a shower heat exchanger.
Shower water is often susceptible to wide fluctuations in water temperature. The largest fluctuation is in the beginning when the shower water from the hot water pipe is cold. Another fluctuation occurs when the shower water from the hot water outlet begins warming up. A variety of solutions have been employed to address the problem of the initial cold water coming out of the hot water pipe, when a person is taking a shower.
Recirculating systems take a portion of the hot water and return it to the water heater. These systems require additional plumbing and can greatly increase the cost of building a bathroom. Other tank based systems are bulky and susceptible to leakage problems due to their size and complexity. Raya in U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,775 shows a large tank system that holds shower water in a large tank and adjusts the water shower temperature to a user defined temperature. When a user takes a shower, the water is used from the tank which becomes a closed system. The water is later replenished for later use.
Rivera U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,536 shows that the water diverter device that sends the initial cold water to storage. This is not preferable because the cold water is wasted, or a user must manually dispose of the cold water. Postmus U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,766 shows a similar device.